CONVICTED

For the first time, a Czech court has convicted a person accused of illegal file sharing on the Internet, the Czech News Agency has reported. The perpetrator, who operated under the handle Lubsoft, caused more than 1 million Kč ($48,540) in damage by sharing music files. He received a suspended sentence of seven months in prison.

Legislation promoting the use of biodiesel will not help stop global warming, says a study published by the Society of Chemical Industry. Biodiesel generated from rapeseed emits nearly the same amount of carbon as normal diesel. If land devoted to rapeseed were used to grow trees, it would be the equivalent of cutting regular diesel emissions by a third, the report says.

Czech scientist Vojtěch Mišut has invented the world’s first artificial vocal cords, the bulletin of the Czech Head project announced. Mišut, a professor at the Technical University in Brno, has created both theoretical and physical models of the vocal cords. Much work remains before his invention can be implanted as a replacement for defunct cords.

Grisoft, the Brno-based software company behind the anti-virus program AVG, has announced that it is now selling its software to 150 countries worldwide, with plans to expand into Japan, India and the rest of Asia. Grisoft was bought last year by the Polish equity firm PEF VI.

The market for software in the Czech Republic will increase an average of 9 percent annually over the next five years, according to the intelligence firm IDC. Sales are expected to increase $2 billion over that time period, with the country adding 46,000 new IT jobs. Some 133,000 people currently work in the IT sector.

The Czech Republic’s three largest Web portals raised their sales revenue a collective one-third in 2006, to 1.6 billion Kč, the companies have announced. Seznam.cz had the highest sales, at 1 billion Kč, followed by Centrum.cz at 400 million Kč and Atlas.cz at 200 million Kč. All three portals turned a profit.

Infosys inaugurated its new center in Brno, south Moravia, April 25. The center is the Indian outsourcing company’s largest in Europe. The opening was attended by President Václav Klaus and Narayana Murthy, founder and chairman of Infosys. The company has more than 72,000 companies in 39 offices worldwide.